created by Sarah Johnson

"Silver!" That cry might not have caused the stir that the gold rush did but it created scores of Western towns. Park City is one of them. In 1868 United States soldiers sent to watch over the reclusive Mormons found silver in the mountains above Park City. It was October and with a storm brewing, the soldiers quickly marked their find with a bandanna tied to a pole, vowing to return in the Spring to work their claim. This was the Flagstaff Mine. When Spring finally arrived, the soldiers returned to their marked spot in the mountains - which became the Flagstaff Mine, and began mining silver.

Word of the silver discovery spread quickly. Tents and shacks sprouted near the mines. When it became apparent that mining would continue, a community grew up in the series of park like canyons below: Park City.

The small miners' houses that dot the canyons today reflect the miner's need to find shelter from heavy snows while not wasting valuable time on expensive materials and fancy building. Why leave a fine house behind if the mines closed? Many are built on timbers with little or no foundations and with walls of thick planking. Accordingly, few original structures of this country's mining era survive today. Park City is fortunate to have preserved many of them.

*Click on the links above to learn more about Park City's historic district and common architecture types.

© Park City Historical Society and Museum